Want a crotch this hot?

Sure you do! So hop on over and join Karen's Pyjama Party Sewalong! Even though the big reveal is this coming Saturday (28 April), I reckon if you have a spare evening this week you totally have plenty of time to get involved...if you want to of course ;o)

In sadder news, my sewing machine's misbehaving and I was wondering if any of your experts might have some advice...

Basically, I think the thread from the spool is not feeding through properly. The best way that I can describe it is that it keeps 'tripping' while I'm sewing. Initially the 'tripping' would completely jam my machine and I'd have to prize the fabric away and start again. For some reason I think the tension isn't quite right, so the thread slackens and then gets caught up around the bobbin holder. I've checked and I don't think there's any random thread in between my tension plates, everything's threaded properly and I've even removed the bobbing holder and given the whole thing a good clean (boy did it need it!).

What did seem to help though was changing my tension from #4 to #5. I've always sewn on #4 with no problem, so that's a bit weird. Anyway, with my tension set to #5 the 'tripping' is less frequent and when it happens it doesn't jam everything up. But it does create little knotted loops on the underside of my fabric:

Any ideas how I can fix this? Do you think I should send it off to get repaired anyway in case it's something serious?

Finally, I wanted to thank you all for replying to my post about lamenting the demise of Picnik. You came up trumps with all you suggestions. I now know that elements of Picnik have been incorporated into Google + and that lots of you rate Gimp (which I personally find brilliant for re-sizing and adjusting colours), but conclude that it's not easy to use for collages etc. Picasa seems to be a popular alternative among many of you and after your recommendations, I will also be checking out iPiccy, Aviary and BeFunky. For today's post I used PicMonkey and it seems pretty cool, with collages 'coming soon' apparently. I hope all this proves helpful for others too!

I usually get that problem when there is too much lent collected under the bobbin holder of the machine. Give it a good cleaning, oiling, change the needle, pull all the dust bunnies out and I bet it will help.

Here are some sites I found where this problem is discussed. Sounds like it is a common problem. What kind of machine do you have? Is the bobbin tension able to be adjusted? If so maybe try loosening that as you tightened the top tension. I agree with Leigh, changing the needles can only help, and it sounds like you have given it a good clean. Do oil all the moving parts as this will help the machine run smoothly. I certainly hope you are able to fix it at home, as sending machines away for repair means it is gone for some time. Are you able to borrow a machine from anywhere? Good luck, keep us posted. Sam xox

First I would rethread the machine with the foot up so that the thread gets between the tension discs; if that doesn't work then you may need to "floss" your tension discs to get any lint trapped there out. I use a piece of fine lint-free fabric folded over and then work that between the tension discs carefully like toothflossing. That normally fixes the problem for me.

I just had this problem/a problem incredibly similar to this. My problem was a result of slightly off timing and poor bobbin tension.

If re-threading your machine and futzing with upper tension does NOT work try adjusting the tension on your bobbin casing. If you pop the bobbin casing out of its holder, there should be a little screw on the side. Turn the screw just a tiny bit, re-insert, and re-thread.

If that doesn't work, it may be the timing of your machine is off just a tad. A quick trip to a machine repair man and the timing issue can be fixed in about 5 minutes.

Erg, I was struggling with this same problem today, too! When I went to clean out my bobbin holder I found a bent pin jammed down there (oops). I removed it and the machine worked much better, but it would still jam every once in awhile. After re-threading a million times, I finally changed my needle to a new, sharp one and that actually seemed to help a lot. Sometimes it's just the little things.This article may help determine if it's just a tension/threading easy-fix issue or something more mechanical: http://blog.sew-classic.com/2008/09/27/thread-nests-and-wads-on-the-underside-how-to-fix-it.aspx.

I would definitely change your needle and maybe check it's the right size for your fabric. I bet none of us do that frequently enough! It was one valuable piece of information I've never forgotten after a "Know Your Sewing Machine" course. We were told to change after EVERY project! I also keep Janome "Blue Tip" needles - these are chemically coated and are brilliant for any troublesome fabric. Normally though universal needles seem to work fine. I also learnt that any machine-branded ones are, in fact, Schmetz, and will of course cost more.Hope this is helpful and that you get the problem sorted.Judy

it looks like you've had plenty of information here, I'll just say that I've had this kind of problem because of my bobbins, they weren't the ones sold with the machine and apparently their weight was incorrect and caused a lot of problems!

God my machine was doing this awhile ago and it was so frustrating! I cleaned the fuzz out, changed the need, monkeyed with all the tensions (even the bobbin). In the end, it turned out the bobbin thread was not being wound on tightly enough and when I took it all off and refilled it, it worked fine.